Switzerland Pavilion tackles theme of limited food resources

At this year’s World Expo in Milan, there are numerous countries that stand out for representing the theme “Feeding the Planet, Energy for life” in unique ways.

The Switzerland Pavilion illustrates its point with a hands-on experience. Tackling the problem of scarcity of the world’s food resources, the pavilion houses four types of food products – coffee, apples, water, and salt – that guests can take away while visiting. Throughout the duration of Expo, guests will be able to observe firsthand the dwindling of resources, and understand their limited availability around the globe.

Each of the four products has important ties to Swiss culture and agriculture. According to the official Switzerland pavilion website, coffee has become the main Swiss export food product, even surpassing chocolate.

The apple rings come from the many varieties of Swiss apple trees. The salt was taken from underground Swiss salt deposits. Lastly, the water comes from an acquirer that supplies water to the entire pavilion, and is a key focus of the exhibition.

The pavilion is spread over 4,432 square meters and is made up of four towers. According to the Expo 2015 website, “the platform on which the towers stand is lowered as they are emptied, allowing everyone to see for themselves their own habits of consumption. The project, which focuses on the availability and distribution of food resources in the world, invites visitors to reflect on their behavior as consumers.”

The Switzerland Pavilion website states that an impressive 75% of the pavilion’s materials are recyclable. The city of Zurich, which organized the exhibition, intends to transform the towers into greenhouses when the Expo is over.